7/12/2012

Greece to sue former Siemens executives

Greece is preparing legal action against 10 high-ranking current and former executives of Siemens, the German electronics and engineering giant accused of bribing Greek politicians to secure state contracts, Kathimerini understands.

The suits are expected to be lodged in September against at least 10 German executives including Reinhard Siekaczek, who was convicted in 2008 for administrating slush funds used to win contracts, and Michael Kutschenreuter, the ex-financial head of the company’s telecoms unit who was found guilty in April of breach of trust and abetting bribery after admitting to covering up the slush funds.

It is unclear whether the German executives will also face trial in Greece, where authorities have failed to try the ex-CEO of Siemens Hellas, Michalis Christoforakos, and Volker Jung, a former director of the company. A German court ruled in 2009 that Christoforakos could not be extradited to Greece for trial as he has German and Greek nationality.